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"Love and Other Drugs"

Even though I had heard that this movie was only so-so, I was expecting more from it, maybe because it has two major A-listers starring in it, but also because the trailer looked really cute. Unfortunately, although the movie has its moments, it ended up just being another ho-hum romantic movie - not even a romantic comedy, actually.

The year is 1996, and Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal, "Prince of Persia") has just quit his job as salesman at an electronic company, and is looking for something new. His brother, Josh (Josh Gad, TV's "Woke Up Dead"), has a contact at Pfizer, so he hooks him up with a job as a Pfizer sales representative. Jamie is already charming, and he soon puts his charms to work, coaxing nurses and doctors alike to stock the shelves with Pfizer's products, especially once Viagra is released. He soon meets Maggie (Anne Hathaway, "Alice in Wonderland") at a doctor's office, however, and although they both swear that they aren't looking for a relationship, they soon begin to fall in love with each other.

Gyllenhaal and Hathaway do quite well in this movie - especially Hathaway, as she is faced with the difficult task of playing a woman who suffers from Parkinson's Disease - but unfortunately, the script has cheesy moments and a lot of tangents. There are also some noticeable supporting actors, such as Oliver Platt (TV's "The Big C") as a co-rep of Gyllenhaal's; Hank Azaria ("Year One") as one of the doctors that Gyllenhaal interacts with; and Judy Greer (TV's "Glenn Martin DDS") as a woman Gyllenhaal strings along for a bit, as she is a nurse who works for Azaria's character (and thus can give Pfizer samples to his patients).

Maybe see this movie. I felt that it dragged in some parts, and as it's about 2 hours long (a little long for a "fluff" movie), this was not good. The film is rated "R" for "strong sexual content, nudity, pervasive language, and some drug material," but it's mostly the sexual content/nudity that probably gave this movie its "R" rating, as there is a lot of it, mostly of the female variety. If you are looking for a "fluffy" romantic film, then this might fulfill you, but otherwise I would suggest seeing "Tangled" or "Burlesque" instead.

So we've all been there ... that time when you're on an important phone call, and then the call drops. Or even when you need to use the internet on your smartphone, only to realize that you're at your data limit for the month.

I drive all over the metro Detroit area for movie screenings; because of this, most of the time I know where I'm going, but sometimes, I'm in an unfamiliar area or at an unfamiliar theater and I need GPS to know how to get there and back.

A few months ago, I was headed to the AMC Forum (Sterling Heights area) and I wanted to know the best way to get home from there. My phone kept stalling ... and stalling ... and then the Maps app crashed! Gah! I was extremely frustrated. I was finally able to re-start the phone and get safely home, but it TOOK. SO. LONG. Had the Maps app worked the fir…

*Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own. As long-time readers of this blog surely know, I travel quite a lot. A few years ago, I only took about 2-3 trips per year, not including trips in the state of Michigan (Grand Haven weekends, etc.), but this past year, I was fortunate in that I was able to travel very frequently.

I recently heard about a new travel site, DirectHotels.com, which is similar to Kayak.com, in that it searches all of the other travel sites (Orbitz, Expedia, etc.) to find the best deals for you. I gave it a bit of a test run to see if that is indeed true.

About the site:
DirectHotels.com is a new hotel comparison tool that challenges the big brands. Travelers can easily compare all the travel sites in one place to find the cheapest hotel. DirectHotels.com compares over 200 bookings sites, so users can be sure about its accuracy. Using DirectHotels.com means that you will never overpay.

I've written these past two years about Bookstock, a huge used book & media sale that takes place at Laurel Park Place, in Livonia, and it's returning again this year, from Sunday, 4/22 through Sunday, 4/29.Read more about the event over at my book blog! I was finally able to check it out last year, and they had a large mix of books and media (including DVDs, Blu-rays, and records).To learn more about Bookstock, click hereto visit my book blog, or visit their official site here.